Prytaneion
Encyclopedia
A Prytaneion was seat of the Prytaneis
(executive
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
met at Olympia
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
, and part of the Bouleuterion
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
(members of the senate).
A Prytaneion (Πρυτανεῖον) was seat of the Prytaneis
(executive
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
met at Olympia
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
, and part of the Bouleuterion
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials."Tholos, Athens" in Archaeopaedia. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
(members of the senate).
A Prytaneion (Πρυτανεῖον) was seat of the Prytaneis
(executive
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
met at Olympia
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
, and part of the Bouleuterion
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials."Tholos, Athens" in Archaeopaedia. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
(members of the senate)."Athens - Prytaneion" Bouleuterion: Birthplace of Democracy.
It stands to the north-west of the Temple of Hera
and was used for celebrations and feasts by the winners of the games."The Altis", Olympia: Pathways to Ancient Myth at Calvin College
It also housed the Altar of Hestia where the original Olympic flame
once burnt.
Prytaneis
The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. The term is probably of pre-Greek origin ....
(executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
met at Olympia
Olympia, Greece
Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
Hestia
In Greek mythology Hestia , first daughter of Cronus and Rhea , is the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. In the public domain, the hearth of the prytaneum...
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
Tholos, Athens
At the southwest side of the agora in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and part of the Bouleuterion
Bouleuterion
A bouleuterion was a building which housed the council of citizens in Ancient Greece. There are several extant remains of Bouleuterions around Greece and former Greek territories of ancient times....
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC...
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
Boule (Ancient Greece)
In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...
(members of the senate).
A Prytaneion (Πρυτανεῖον) was seat of the Prytaneis
Prytaneis
The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. The term is probably of pre-Greek origin ....
(executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
met at Olympia
Olympia, Greece
Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
Hestia
In Greek mythology Hestia , first daughter of Cronus and Rhea , is the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. In the public domain, the hearth of the prytaneum...
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
Tholos, Athens
At the southwest side of the agora in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and part of the Bouleuterion
Bouleuterion
A bouleuterion was a building which housed the council of citizens in Ancient Greece. There are several extant remains of Bouleuterions around Greece and former Greek territories of ancient times....
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials."Tholos, Athens" in Archaeopaedia. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC...
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
Boule (Ancient Greece)
In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...
(members of the senate).
A Prytaneion (Πρυτανεῖον) was seat of the Prytaneis
Prytaneis
The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. The term is probably of pre-Greek origin ....
(executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city) but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
met at Olympia
Olympia, Greece
Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia
Hestia
In Greek mythology Hestia , first daughter of Cronus and Rhea , is the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. In the public domain, the hearth of the prytaneum...
, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
Tholos, Athens
At the southwest side of the agora in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and part of the Bouleuterion
Bouleuterion
A bouleuterion was a building which housed the council of citizens in Ancient Greece. There are several extant remains of Bouleuterions around Greece and former Greek territories of ancient times....
complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (tholos is the Greek word for "circle"), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It was this round feature that allowed archaeologists to identify the badly damaged buildings surrounding it. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials."Tholos, Athens" in Archaeopaedia. This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC...
, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times. It was built around 470 BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule
Boule (Ancient Greece)
In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...
(members of the senate)."Athens - Prytaneion" Bouleuterion: Birthplace of Democracy.
Prytaneion, Olympia
At Olympia, the Prytaneion was where the priests and magistrates lived; the high priests lived in the Theokoleon."Festivals and Games", Olympia: Pathways to Ancient Myth at Calvin CollegeCalvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
It stands to the north-west of the Temple of Hera
Temple of Hera (Olympia)
The Temple of Hera is an ancient Doric Greek temple at Olympia, Greece. The Temple of Hera was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th century AD, and never rebuilt...
and was used for celebrations and feasts by the winners of the games."The Altis", Olympia: Pathways to Ancient Myth at Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
It also housed the Altar of Hestia where the original Olympic flame
Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
once burnt.
Sources
- Miller, Stephen G. The Prytaneion. Its Function and Architectural Form. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.